Using boost::random and getting same sequence of numbers

Question

I have the following code:

Class B {

void generator()
{
    // creating random number generator
    boost::mt19937 randgen(static_cast(s         


        

Answer 1

First Thoughts

On unix you could try reading some bytes from /dev/random or /dev/urandom for the seed. You could also try using a combination of time(0) + pid + static counter (or pseudo-random sequence).

I believe on windows, you can use QueryPerformanceCounter to get the value of the high performance timer register.

Another thought:

You could declare your mt19937 prng as a static or global so you never lose its state.

A third thought:

You wish to "execute the above code multiple times in rapid succession to produce multiple graphs" pass in a graph index. (e.g. genGraph(int graphIndex) and combine this (add, xor, etc) with the output of time(0). boost::mt19937 randgen(static_cast(std::time(0) + graphIndex));